Today our CEO, Marina Tognetti, has been presenting at WEF Women Economic Forum in Den Haag, hold on this day also in celebration of The International Women Day 2018.

She was a speaker in the plenary The magic of wonders – Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Start-ups talking about her experience as female tech entrepreneur.

Her personal quest is to help breaking the barrier that separates women from technology, hoping that by sharing her story she can inspire more women to start the challenging journey of entrepreneurship, changing the perceptions and stereotypes of women in tech.

Technology is in fact revolutionizing every part of our life, yet women are still not participating in this revolution in sufficient numbers. The question keeps on coming back over and over again: why are there so few female tech entrepreneurs? The ‘’infamous’’ numbers are all too well known: only 5% of tech start-ups are owned by women.

Women are as innovative as men and companies run by women are as successful, but when we look at the tech world – which is now the driver of innovation- we still see so few women leading the way.

The most important lesson in entrepreneurship is that change is the key to success. Change requires guts and honesty and real strenght. “A strong leader is not the one without faults, as we all have faults, but that which is so self-confident to be able to show her vulnerabilities without being scared that it would impact her power.” This can be the strength of a female entrepreneur.

For her contribution as woman in technology, Marina received today the Award Exceptional Women of Excellence 2018.

Climbing tests strength, endurance, agility and balance. You need people that are adventurous and curious to try new things, focused to achieve a goal and not scared of falling, that can make the commitment despite the odds, pushing as high as they can.
Well, that’s the mYngle team!!

mYngle CEO Marina Tognetti will be presenting at the 20th Global WINConference that will take place between September 26th and September 30th in Oslo, Norway.

About the WINConference

The Global WINConference is a 3+ day event organized by the independent global women’s leadership organization Women’s International Networking (WIN). More than 800 leaders from across the world are participating to discuss about one of the big topics in the business world today, that is the empowerment of women.

The theme for this year’s 20th WIN meeting is “Creating a Thriving Future” with grounded optimism, gracious innovation & tender humanity. There are a lot of research findings that show how gender balance is beneficial to business, how through women’s leadership, companies do better and how diversity of thoughts and background stimulates innovation. Yet gender parity is still very far away. In this age of constant flux, the world requires new solutions to the challenges of our time, solutions that not only evolve companies but also humanity as a whole.

WIN Innovation and Technology Forum

Marina will contribute in the Innovation and Technology Forum on Day 2.
Technology has changed the way we live and work and is the most powerful industry of our times, with unprecedented ability to transform and shape our future. Women must have a seat at that table if we are to Create a Thriving Future for all, but it is clear that there are big challenges ahead for women to create a space for themselves in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Marina will speak about her own experience as entrepreneur, touching on some of the key challenges of female entrepreneurship. The issue about female leadership is in fact amplified in tech start-ups: women are as innovative as men and companies run by women are as successful. Yet the number of female tech entrepreneurs is insignificantly low. Confidence, change, persistence: a different way of looking at leadership. One that better fits a new female model of leadership, and that can be equally or even more successful at the end. A different way of being a leader.

And together with the other forum panelists, all women successful in the technology sector, they will discuss and try to answer some of the key questions about women in the tech world: What can be done to progress women’s careers in technology? Is there a place for ‘’feminine values’’ in the tech industry? How can women be active innovators in society and technology and play an active role as we shape the future in a positive way?

Though I can’t see you, I won’t be too surprised if many hands spring up.

The struggle to master a language is common, especially for adult learners with a full-time job. If you are a native English speaker or have the ability to communicate all right in English, acquiring another language is even more challenging.

You have probably heard this joke: A ”bilingual” is someone who speaks two languages, a “trilingual” is someone who speaks three languages. What do you call someone who speaks only one language? It’s an American. Read the rest of this post »

Learning a new language is overwhelming! Unfamiliar sounds, new words, complex grammar rules as well as the many exceptions await. Starting to learn is easy (and exciting), but progression could be slow.

What if you treat language training as a project?

Set goals, establish a process and work on it regularly. Using this approach and you will be mastering a language in no time.

Better yet, you can make use of some excellent project management tools to learn more efficiently. I’d like to share with you 3 Trello boards to demonstrate how you can make language learning happen. If you are new to Trello, here is a guide to start.

Living in the Netherlands can be easy for English speakers as everyone speaks decent English. However, some Dutch words have no English equivalent, so even if the local try to translate them to you, the sense and feeling of the expressions could go missing. It’s fine if you just want to get by, but the reward is high once you learn what they mean.

Why You Want To Know About Untranslatable Words

When a word is not translatable, it’s often the case that it conveys a concept, an attitude, or a cultural aspect that exists in the Netherlands but perhaps nowhere else. It means that once you use those words, you can express yourself quicker with all the nuances.

These nine words won’t do the magic straight away, but once you read through them, you will start to see what I mean. If you can use them, you would feel more like an insider. The Dutch is famous for being tolerant and friendly with foreigners, but once you speak the language, you will feel those qualities in a much deeper sense.

If you are new to the Netherlands, the Dutch sounds and its extremely long words might be intimidating. You think the language would be too hard to learn. Most people speak perfect English anyway, you tell yourself. Eventually, you would want to learn Dutch, though, because knowing the language makes your life here easier, more enjoyable and perhaps more “gezelig”. Learning the language gives you that knowledge, confidence and opportunity.

9 Awesomely Untranslatable Dutch Words

Gezellig

Gezellig is most likely the first untranslatable word you would encounter as Dutch people use it all the time. They could say “Een gezellig cafe” (a cosy cafe), “het gezellig bezoek” (the friendly visit), or “een gezellige vrouw” (a convivial woman). You can see that the word “gezellig” could be used to describe a place, a social gathering or a person, meaning “good” or “nice” and a bit more. It’s about being social and being cosy.

Uitwaaien

In the word “uitwaaien,” “uit” means “out” and “waaien” means “to blow”. You go out for the wind to blow away worrying thoughts. It is a way to remember the meaning of “uitwaaien” — going for a walk to clear your head.

Lekker

Lekker is another word that you hear a lot when the Dutch talk to each other. It’s often used to describe the food as being tasty, but there are ways more usage of this word. “Ga lekker zitten” means “to make yourself comfortable, make yourself at home”. “Lekker lang uitslapen” means that you sleep in long and nicely. You can also use “lekker” for a person that you enjoy hanging out with like “een lekker meid” (a nice girl). Kids sometimes say to each other “lekker puh!” meaning “serves you right!”

Uitzieken

This word is another expression that illustrates the common attitude found among the people in the Netherlands. The doctors often advocate “uitzieken” or to wait, take it easy and let the body heal itself. You “sick it out” until you recover instead of hastily taking medication.

Afbellen

The Dutch is very social and often make a plan, to have dinner or a beer with friends, way in advance. It doesn’t mean, though, that an appointment can’t be cancelled. When someone, especially a date, does it over the phone, “afbellen” is the word for it. It has the subtle difference to “afzeggen” which is to cancel in general.

IJsberen

As a noun, “ijsberen” means “polar bears”, rooting from the singular noun “ijsbeer” (polar bear). As a verb, “ijsberen” can’t be entirely translated into one word in English. It refers to the act of pacing up and down because you are either nervous or bored. The expression derived from the behaviour of polar bears in captivity when they walk around in the same circle or movement again and again.

Gedogen

This word means to turn a blind eye to something. It reflects the tolerant attitude of the country when it comes to things like drug or prostitution laws.

Uitbuiken

“Uit” again means “out” while “buiken” means bellies. Together, they make a word meaning “to have bellies out, often after a lot of eating and / or drinking”.

Beleg

If you are working in a Dutch company, you must have noticed that sandwiches (i.e. “boterhammen”) are the very typical food for lunch. When the Dutch eat one piece of bread (een boterham), they put “beleg” on the bread, which could be anything from standard ham and cheese to sweet chocolate sprinkles (de hagelslag).

This list of nine words is just the start. I hope you enjoy reading it and it will encourage you to learn more Dutch. If you know other words that you have struggled to translate into English, share with us below!

Quynh Nguyen writes about productivity for individuals and teams while travelling the world. She loves learning languages, riding a bike and having many nice cups of tea. Connect with her @QuynhThuNguyen or visit her at www.quynh.nl

mYngle CEO Marina Tognetti is presenting now at the Women Economic Forum (WEF) in New Delhi, a global conference to empower conversations and connections among women committed to foster constructive change in ALL walks of life.
The main theme for WEF 17 is “Creating, Innovating, Understanding and Driving the Future”.
Participants from all over the world are sharing their business expertise, their learning, their stories, their inspiration, their drive and focus and their message or cause. They will talk about different verticals, as Entrepreneurship, Thought Leadership, Sustainability, Innovation, Industry or Country specific topics etc.
Marina will contribute with two different stories – you can watch online her contribution here: http://weftv.org/:

LEADERSHIP

Plenary session on the main stage about Creating a New Thought Leadership, where Marina will talk about Tech entrepreneurship: the ultimate challenge.

The issue about female leadership is amplified in tech start-ups: Women are as innovative as men and companies run by women are as successful. So why are there so few women tech entrepreneurs?

Here, Marina will talk about her own experience as female tech entrepreneur of a venture capital backed start-up. She will talk of leadership and the ultimate challenge, because “If we can make it there, we can make it anywhere.”

Date/time: Monday 8th May at 11:00am (local time)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Parallel session about Entrepreneurship, and in particular: Change is an essential part of being entrepreneur.
The entrepreneurship theory talks a lot about how to start a company: start with the customer in mind, start with experiments, start with a Minimum Viable Product etc. But what happens after you have launched? What if it is not really going as expected? Can you save a troubled start-up, identify the reasons for failing in the market, and rectify then? Marina will share the true story of mYngle, and give tips on how to turnaround a start-up.

Date/ time: Tuesday 9th May at 6:00 pm (local time)

Marina will also contribute as Advisory Executive Council in the vertical Theme: B-1 (Presentations by Start-Ups, Entrepreneurs, Fund Managers, Investors & Innovator)

It is a great day to start off the week today, announcing that our CEO, Marina Tognetti, has been nominated by the INSPIRING FIFTY foundation one of the 50 most inspiring women in tech in the Netherlands for this year.
INSPIRING FIFTY is a great foundation that encourages all those women who want to work in the technology field to get inspired, with a “yes, you can do it” approach.

Technology is in fact a field where female leadership is still very much under-represented. As we all know, a low percentage of women are in the board or leading Fortune 500 companies; but even a lower percentage is owner of a tech company. Only 5% of tech start-ups are owned by women. And those start-ups owned by women only 4% receive venture capital funding.

Technology is revolutionizing every part of our life and our society. Yet women are still not participating in this revolution in sufficient numbers. The tech world needs to be shaken and women need to gain awareness of their potential and capabilities and push themselves behind their limits.

INSPIRING 50 wants to give examples of role models that can inspire more women to start in the technology sector. This is one of the reasons that is making us proud of having as lead of mYngle a role model and reference point for all the aspirant successful women in tech.

Marina is among those fifty who are challenging the status quo in 2017, demonstrating that technology is a field women can access and excel in.

This prize will be added to the belt of the Awards and recognition she has been winning during her journey as a CEO and Founder of mYngle, bringing language learning for professionals to the next level.

We, as mYnglers, are honored to take part of mYngle’s success, hoping to broaden our worldwide reach to those professionals who are still looking for an effective and tailored made language learning program.

On Friday, 10th of March the mYngle team was blessed by a pre-spring sunny day in Amsterdam at De Ceuvel to get the hands dirty while contributing to an inspiring and environmental sustainable project!

All the participants at the volunteering day @De Ceuvel

It was an intense and rewarding day, collaborating to the concept started by De Ceuvel in 2014.

Located in Amsterdam North, De Ceuvel has an intriguing story that dates back to 1919, when the construction of the Shipyard Volharding started and with it a long chapter of shipbuilding activity that lasted for 80 years.

In 2000, the shipyard closed its doors to become a sustainable office park “De Ceuvel” in 2014, the year of its official opening.

Since then, the contaminated site has been transformed into an inspiring, sustainable place – the most unique urban experiment in Europe, with its projects and concepts based on the sustainability of living and working.

A broad spectrum of projects is carried out daily @De Ceuvel. Here you can find the Biogasboat project (learn more here: http://www.biogasboot.nl), the Circular Buiksloterham, Compost Toilet, Heat Exchanger, Helophyte filters, and many more.

Our team had the chance to work on two main projects. We split in different groups, together with other brave employees and volunteers, and we got involved in:

Upcycling project

Main objective of the day was to set up the recycling house, where waste would be separated according to its material. We built its roof and use our creativity to recycle the litter collected in the neighborhood to define the different material sections – glass, paper, plastic, metal and organic. We definitely felt we fully applied one of their core concepts: turn what many people view as waste into something of value.

Gardening project

Most of the plants @De Ceuvel are destined to absorb the pollution and metals coming from the past time this ground was devoted as a shipyard. Keeping this in mind, we were involved in uprooting those plants carrying the metals inside their veins.

After that, we got the ground ready to plant other plants that would also contribute to slowly purify the ground. We had real fun while digging, clipping, raking and trimming – under the sun and a magnificent blue sky!

Satisfied and proud of our productive day, we ended the day enjoying a great beer at the Café De Ceuvel!